After two seasons of sharing Victoria's wicketkeeping duties with Matthew Wade, Adam Crosthwaite headed north to Sydney following the 2008-09 summer in the hope of winning greater opportunities with New South Wales. There was no state contract for Crosthwaite with the Blues, but he felt he had a greater chance of first-class action there than in Melbourne, where he had been usurped by the younger Wade. In 2008-09, Crosthwaite played only two Sheffield Shield matches, both times as a specialist batsman, although he remained Victoria's one-day and Twenty20 gloveman. However, his relocation meant he gave up the chance to be part of Victoria's Champions League campaign in India. The previous summer, the selectors turned to Crosthwaite late in the season when Wade's batting form fell away, and Crosthwaite played in the final loss to New South Wales. The reverse had happened to Crosthwaite in 2005-06, when he was the incumbent and lost his position to Nathan Pilon for the decider.

Until Wade's arrival, Crosthwaite had been relatively settled as the replacement for the long-standing Darren Berry. He played every game in all three formats in 2006-07, recording his maiden first-class half-century with 72 in Adelaide. An aggressive batsman, he shone in the Twenty20 competition and used unconventional strokes to make up for his lack of brute force. He was Man of the Match in the final, when his 31-ball 52 set up the struggling Bushrangers for victory. However, his lack of first-class runs - he made only two half-centuries in his time with Victoria - hurt his chances in the longer format. Crosthwaite, who claims to have read Sun Tzu's The Art of War, debuted for Victoria in 2002-03 as Berry's replacement during his suspension for missing a training session. He showed his talent in 2004-05 with a breathtaking 54 from 38 balls in a one-day win over Queensland and played three first-class games when he overtook Peter Roach towards the end of the season. He was part the Australia Under-19 World Cup win in 2002 and was included in the 2006 Academy intake.Cricinfo staff September 2009